Alert at Montreal-Trudeau airport | The alleged fraud is not linked to Aeroplan
Another development in the saga of the false alarm at Montreal-Trudeau airport: the identity theft of one of the passengers would not be linked to Aeroplan, contrary to what was initially reported.
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“At this point in the investigation, it is established that the incident was linked to the fraudulent use of a third-party credit card and in no way to Aeroplan, nor to any Air Canada system or identifier,” explains Air Canada vice-president of communications Christophe Hennebelle.
Two individuals caused a major commotion Wednesday at the Montreal-Trudeau airport. The two travelers, aged in their twenties and thirties, allegedly boarded two flights from Europe to Montreal at almost the same time. One of them – suspected of fraud – allegedly usurped the identity of the other traveler, triggering an alert. TVA had at that time suggested that the fraud had been carried out “with the aim of stealing his Aeroplan points”.
As a safety measure, the two planes were then escorted by CF-18s, F-16s and KC-135s, in order to “monitor the situation until the affected aircraft land safely at their destination”, indicated the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in an email addressed to The Press THURSDAY.
Once arrived, the planes’ luggage was sniffed by a dog specialized in the detection of explosives from Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), which apparently reacted to one of the passengers’ suitcases, prompting precautionary measures at the airport. It ended up being a false alarm.
A runway at Montreal-Trudeau airport was closed for a long time, causing the delay of domestic and international flights.
With Chloé Bourquin, Daniel Renaud, Vincent Larouche and Karim Benssaish The Press
